The Operation Grange team erected three forensic tents in specific spots as part of the most significant development since Madeleine was snatched, The Mirror reported.

Detectives are expected to start using ground-penetrating radar for clues that could solve the tragic case.

Significant development ... police in Praia da Luz searching the area of scrubland near the holiday apartment in Portugal where Madeleine vanished seven years ago.Source:AFP

The McCanns’ Portuguese lawyer, Isabel Duarte, said the distraught couple “just want to know exactly what happened to their daughter”.

She added: “It is my belief that police have some very good information to be carrying out ground searches.

“I believe there is data in the criminal file which has led to this operation because, if not, police would not be performing this very drastic task,” The Mirror reports.

“Kate and Gerry have not been given any information that Madeleine is dead, and until this happens they have to believe she is still alive.

“But they think police will come up with some significant news. It is such a stressful time for them and my heart goes out to them.

“It has been so long, and the investigating officers now have new information and there may finally be some answers.”

Clinging to hope ... Gerry and Kate McCann are said to bracing for “significant news”.Source:AP

Ms Duarte added: “I don’t need to ask them how they are feeling. It is very clear.

“But it is not for me to say if they fear the worse.”

The development comes two weeks after Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley from Scotland Yard said officers are working through every credible line of inquiry in the search for the missing girl.

“In the forthcoming weeks we are going to be going to a substantial phase of operational activity on the ground in Portugal,” he said.

“It’s something that you would expect in any major inquiry.

“A thorough serious crime investigation works systematically through all the credible possibilities, and often in an investigation you will have more than one credible possibility.

“Therefore, just because we’re doing a substantial phase of work in the forthcoming week doesn’t mean that it’s going to immediately lead to answers that will explain everything.”

Without a trace ... Maddie went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Paia da Luz in Portugal on May 9, 2007.Source:AFP

Operation Grange was set up in 2011 to reinvestigate the disappearance after David Cameron ordered Scotland Yard to review all the evidence.

UK police have made numerous trips to Portugal this is the first time they have carried out a search.

The search site is on land owned by Belmiro de Azevedo — Portugal’s second richest man and 605th on the Forbes rich list.

photo galleryMadeliene Mccann mystery

EMPTY ï¿½ Maddieï¿½s bed photographed by police after her disappearance.

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DINING areas ï¿½ the dining area where Maddie would have eaten her meals on the holiday.

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McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell holds up a new artist impression at a press conference in London, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, of a man they claim could be involved in Madeline McCann's disappearance.

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Kate McCann, the mother of the missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, holds her daughter's toy outside their resort apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal 08/05/07. Madeleine disappeared from the resort apartment bedroom while her parents were having an evening meal at a nearby restaurant where she was on vacation with her family.

Gerry McCann (L), father of British missing girl Madeleine leaves the criminal police headquarters in Portimao in Southern Portugal after being named a suspect.

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Kate McCann and her lawyer Carlos Pinto Abreu speak to the media as they leave the headquarters of Policia Judiciaria, Portuguese criminal police, after she was questioned for 11 hours.

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Kate McCann leaves a police station in Portimao, Portugal, yesterday where she answered questions investigating the disappearance of her 4-year-old daughter Madeleine.

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Members of the public read tributes left for Madeleine McCann in Leicesteshire, England.

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A photo taken the day Madeleine McCann, right, went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

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Pope Benedict XVI greets the parents of Madeleine McCann.

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Kate McCann gives out pictures of her daughter to people at Huelva's bus station, southern Spain.

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The parents of Madeleine McCann are greeted by children from an organisation defending children's rights.

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Kate McCann displays a poster of her daughter during a news conference in Morocco.

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Another of the many photos released of Madeline McCann.

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EMPTY ï¿½ Maddieï¿½s bed photographed by police after her disappearance.

DINING areas ï¿½ the dining area where Maddie would have eaten her meals on the holiday.

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell holds up a new artist impression at a press conference in London, Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008, of a man they claim could be involved in Madeline McCann's disappearance.

Kate McCann, the mother of the missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, holds her daughter's toy outside their resort apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal 08/05/07. Madeleine disappeared from the resort apartment bedroom while her parents were having an evening meal at a nearby restaurant where she was on vacation with her family.